Leehee Rothschild - Mondoweiss - One of the activists a history book, out of which he started reading out loud the names of villages demolished by the Nakba, on which the city of Tel Aviv was built. Policemen warned him that if he keeps on reading he will be arrested. After a moment or two they fulfilled this threat. As he was dragged to the police van he kept on reading. "Shayka Muwannis, Abu Kabir, Salama...." gm

Haggai Matar -
+972
Some 15 activists from the organization Zochrot were besieged by police on Wednesday night in the NGO’s offices, in order to prevent them from quietly commemorating the Palestinian Nakba on Israeli Independence Day. Three were arrested for reading aloud names of destroyed villages."...their goal was to prevent us from disturbing the peace,” says Liat Rosenberg, Zochrot director. “We were held captive for about four hours," ca
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Ali Abunimah - The Electronic Intifada - Last night, Israeli police besieged the headquarters of Zochrot, in Tel Aviv, preventing dozens of activists from carrying out a silent action in which they intended to hold signs on Tel Aviv’s “Rabin Square” bearing the names of Palestinian villages ethnically cleansed in 1948.-rh

Haggai Matar -
+972 -
"...it became clear that the prosecution’s whole case against Tamimi – who is charged with inciting the village’s youth to hurl stones at soldiers – is based on the testimonies of two teenagers, snatched from their beds at the dead of night, and interrogated without the presence of an adult or without being told of their right to remain silent." - id

Rona Tal - Y-net - Members of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families who "promote dialogue, reconciliation and non-violence" are expected to speak at the ceremony, which will be hosted by Shira Geffen. Some 1,500 people took part in last year`s event, but even more are expected to attend Tuesday`s ceremony at "Hangar 11" in Tel-Aviv`s port.

Haggai Matar = +972 - For the first time in years, a group of Palestinian women was able to reach the Nabi Saleh spring, which was taken over long ago by settlers. The women vowed to return, hoping to hold on to the spring

Uri Yacobi-Keller - AIC - Israel is both virulently opposed to international activists coming in solidarity with the Palestinian people, yet completely dependent on international financing, business, academics and tourists. Activists should use this contradiction to their advantage

Joanna Paraszcuk - Jerusalem Post - Granting `Galei Israel` FM frequencies outside the West Bank “blurs the boundaries between the sovereign State of Israel and the occupied territories where military rule applies.” And it violates the principles of equality and free competition” as an equal opportunity is denied the peace camp.
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Yotam Shlomo - New Profile - In her refusal declaration Noam wrote:"I refuse to join an army that has, since it was established, been engaged in dominating another nation, in plundering and terrorizing a civilian population that is under its control.-rh

Saed Bannoura -
IMEMC -
"The organizations are calling for justice, the implementation of international law, an end to solitary confinement, allowing families of Gaza Strip detainees to visit them." - id

Editorial -
Haaretz -
When the prime minister and foreign minister label left-wingers "anarchists," "provocateurs" and even "terror supporters," they are sanctioning attacks on civilians implementing the right to protest." - id
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Sofiah MacLeod - Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign - at Waverley Station, Edinburgh`s main train terminal, a supportive crowd gathered along with pipers and a choir, to give a send-off to Scottish activists flying off tonight. From the exprience of those who did it before, saying the word "Palestine" at the passport control can result in being immediately put in handcuffs and leg-irons and taken to Givon Prison.

Amira Hass -
Haaretz
"The Shin Bet security service has interrogated four left-wing Israelis involved in preparations for Sunday`s "fly-in." The activists, members of Anarchists Against the Wall, said they have been questioned over the past two to three weeks.Two of the activists said they were questioned at Ben-Gurion International Airport upon returning from a trip abroad. Two others received a written summons to the police station on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv." ca

Saed Bannoura - IMEMC News - "Palestinian sources reported, Sunday, that detained secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Ahmad Sa`adat, was moved to the Ramla prison hospital after a sharp deterioration in his health condition. [...] The PFLP leader has been in solitary confinement for three years now, with no end in sight; his health condition is gradually deteriorating due to various health conditions that need specialized medical attention"

Amira Hass - Haaretz - Several Israelis have been questioned at length by the security service in recent weeks regarding Sunday`s planned `fly-in`; activists` lawyer says Shin Bet is attempting to deter people from taking part in legal activities.-rh

Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - "Palestinian medical sources reported, Saturday, that one Palestinian child, in addition to an Israeli and an international peace activist, were injured after Israeli soldiers attacked the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall and Settlement in Beit Ummar town, near the southern West Bank city of Hebron"

Adam Horowitz - Institute for Palestine Studies - Right-wing groups accused dissident historian Ilan Pappé of misquoting a 1937 letter by David Ben Gurion. The full text now translated by the Institute for Palestine Studies shows that Ben Gurion did write what Pappé attributed to him. As quoted, Ben Gurion hoped that the Arabs would freely cede the Negev to a future Jewish state, as "they have no need of it", but if they prove obdurate the Jewish state would make use of its military strenth and enact a forced removal of Arabs.

Pauline Mevel and Alexandria Sage - Reuters - About 1,200 Palestinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for the visit on April 15 to help open an international school and a museum at the request of a local organisation called "Welcome to Palestine". A similar, though smaller, operation last year led to a few hundred activists being blocked at European airports.-rh

Amnesty International - "A dangerous statement by the office of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor that it cannot consider allegations of crimes committed during the 2008-9 Gaza conflict means Palestinian and Israeli victims seem likely to be denied justice."

Ynet - "The general manager of Habima has declared the invitation `an honorable accomplishment for the State of Israel`. But Habima has a shameful record of involvement with illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian Territory." //
Ido Balas - Haaretz - The letter, which was published late last week in the British newspaper the Guardian, was signed by such leading cultural figures as film director Mike Leigh, actress Emma Thompson and actor-director Richard Wilson.

Angela Godfrey-Goldstein - The Jahalin Association - Harvey Stein`s documentary on the Jahalin Bedouins, constantly harassed and displaced to make place for expanding Israeli settlements, got its premiere at the French Cultural Centre in East Jerusalem. Unfortunately, not a single one of the Jahalin themselves was able to get a permit to enter Jerusalem and be there in person.

Jack Khoury, Avi Issacharoff and DPA
- Haaretz - 2,300 more prisoners declare they will not eat for one day, as Palestinians mark Prisoners’ Day in solidarity with Palestinians held in Israeli prisons; Hunger-striker Khader Adnan also due to be released from prison.
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Jennifer Lipman - The Jewish Chronicle - Now 37 people have signed a letter calling for Israel to be removed from the roster, including the prominent dissident Jewish ("anti-Israel" JC writes) activists Miriam Margolyes, David Aukin, Jonathan Miller and Mike Leigh. Also on the list is the star of the play Jerusalem, Mark Rylance.

Dan Rabinowitz - European Association of Social Anthropologists - Funded by international donations, Israeli peace activists so far helped provide solar panels or wind turbines to some 200 households in the semi-nomadic Palestinian communities of the arid South Hebron Hills - to whom the military government denies link to the regular power grid.

Gadi Algazi - Tarabut-Hithabrut - "This is a test of the long-range acoustic device LRAD from the American Technologies corporation." Have you ever heard commercials in the middle of a demonstration, while breathing tear gas? It’s very sad that they didn’t try the automatic translator on us. We didn’t understand a word, and kept on protesting.

Tikun Olam - "Sometimes pictures are worth a thousand words, at least. In the case of this image by Reuters’ Ammar Awad, this one may be worth 10,000 or more. It’s also instructive that the NY Times headline for the slideshow presentation of Land Day images that includes this one was: Protesters Scuffle With Forces. I don’t see protesters scuffling with Israeli forces. I see Israeli border police mauling unarmed Palestinian demonstrators. I see them pepper-spraying one at point-blank range. You might not notice that his head has already been bloodied as a result of the blows he received"

Dimi Reider - +972 - A Swedish tourist trying to enter Israel was made to sign a “contract” promising she won’t get in touch with “pro-Palestinian” organisations, and acknowledging she’ll get deported if she “gets caught doing even one of these things.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s Office released a letter that will be handed to deported Flytilla activists: Go to Syria

Ami Kaufman - +972 - UPDATE: According to a source who has approached +972 Magazine, Lt. Col. Shalom Eisner, who beat an activist in the face with his rifle (video below) is slated to be the next Deputy Commander of Bahad 1, the IDF’s school and training base for all of its officers

Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies - "The Israeli Prison Authorities released, on Sunday evening, Ashraf Abu Rahma, from Bil’in village, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, after detaining him for six and a half months"

Barak Ravid - Haaretz - Security service had no evidence that 470 of the 1,200 people whom Israel labeled as `pro-Palestinian activists` intended to do anything illegal, source says; French diplomat and his wife among those whose tickets to Israel were canceled

December 18th.org -
"In the coming month, two 18 year-old youth (one male and one female) will refuse to serve in the army, declaring that they can not take part in the violent oppression of the Palestinian people.These brave youth each wrote a declaration explaining why they refuse to be drafted into the Israeli army, and would rather sit in prison than implement the violent policies of oppression of the Israeli army and government" ca

Allison Deger -
Mondoweiss
"The AirFlofilla2 is an expensive direct action. Activists from around the world will board plans headed for Tel Aviv and when they arrive, they intend to inform airport security of their plans to enter the West Bank. Generally, announcing intent to enter the occupied Palestinian territories is grounds for deportation, though not an official Israeli policy." ca